Pieces and Masks
by blue-eye-white-wing
Summary: Shiho just wanted to escape from everything that wanted to hurt her, to end her pain and suffering and to be just free of everything. Could Akira be the one to help her move forward? The first story of Shiho and Akira!.
1. Chapter 1

So I recently finished Persona 5 and just wow.

For a long time, I didn't have such strong affection for a game and characters! one of my favorite characters wasn't much in the story except at the beginning and for giving Ann motivation and advancing the story.

So I decided to change it a bit and give her a shot.

This is the story of Shiho and Akira.

And no the Persona series does not belong to me... but one can only hope.

In any case, enjoy the story and do not forget to R&R.

X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X

"Don't let these rumors get to you, it's just something silly that will pass just as it came," said Shiho to the new and mysterious boy. She honestly did not know how and where were all the rumors about him came from. It did not make sense that someone who only came to school to be this infamous, unless if he wanted it from the beginning, or that someone tried to ruin his reputation. She'd like to say he wasn't exactly like someone dangerous or vicious, but she knew very well not to trust anyone according to his appearance. She had a lot of experience with people who seemed nice at first but turned out as liars and monsters.

It's was just the end of the day with the ring of the bell that marked the end of the day and for everyone to go home or club in her case as for many of the students, she hated the sound of the bell. does Her suffering time and all the pain that came with it because of the training and the club.

Anyone who looked at her from the sideline would say the same thing, 'she's just weak ... she should just give it more effort ... if she just really try then everything will be different!', whether they were her classmates or parents the blame would always be on her.

It was her mistake no matter how hard she tried, or how much effort she give it would not change anything. Their coach made it personally obvious and the bruises and injuries on her body were evidence for it. The fresh blow above her eye was the newest and caused her eye to swell unnaturally. When her blond friend Ann asked about the injury she replied and said it was because she was not focused during training. But the truth was far more brutal, their coach Kamoshida was responsible for this like all the other injuries she had.

That bloody bastard! Each of the clubs members was scared of him and everyone came out of the training with bruises and marks after every workout. But it was different for her, it was not a ball or falling that caused her injuries. That was that man... no, that monster!.

He was always angry about something or someone, and there would always vent his frustration on her and Mishima. The blow over her eye was not any different, he hit her legs and hands to hide the signs but the at the last practice he was very angry and hit her with enough force to make her hit the floor while holding her face in pain.

The pain was still strong and fresh as it made it hard for her to smile or try to act normal, but the face of the innocence and gentle new student made her think otherwise.

"Thank you... It really was a bit difficult with all the rumors, I'm glad to hear that at least there is someone who doesn't believe the rumors before they try to talk to me," he concluded with a gentle and charming smile. "The name is Akira by the way, Akira Kurusu".

"No problem Akira-kun," she smiled back while the pain came back to remind her it was there. Although she did not trust the new student, she also wanted to give him the hope that with some time everything will be better for him here.

She prayed that the same thing will be true for her.

"I'm Shiho, Shiho Suzuki" The black haired responded to him. She was glad to stay to talk to him but she had to go to training. She would be happy to do anything other than going to her club. But she had no choice but to continue to hold out on the hope that the training will end soon.

A few hours later ...

Training was different today, Kamoshida was different. It would seem that their coach was angrier and showed no emotion other than frustration. She kept her distance from him as much as possible and tried to be as little as she could. If on a normal day he would hit her like he did in the last training, she did not want to think what would happen to her on a day like this.

Training came to an end faster than normal after one of the boys in the group dropped the ball during one of the exercises and made Kamoshida kick him hard in his lower back, he then shouted to everyone that they were done for today and went to his office without another word.

"Thank God it's over" thinking the dark-haired girl sighed with relief as she proceeded to exit the club. She could take comfort in the fact that her injuries from the last training could disappear and heal better, especially the one on her eye as it made her feel ashamed every time someone looked at her.

She always felt her classmate's eyes who looked at her when she wasn't looking and heard the whispering on the obvious signs that were on her face. Even her best friend Ann looked and behaved differently to her whenever she would see the marks. She was always smiling and trying to cheer her up, but she could see her friend barely looking in her eyes.

The only person that did not act differently was Akira the new transfer student, it just felt to her that he could see beyond her shell. It was nice that somebody treated her like that, 'maybe I will try to talk to him a little more tomorrow ...' A small smile crossed her face as she thought about it. It did not seem like a bad idea and she thought it would be something that encourages the black-haired boy even if just a little.

"Shiho-san!" Someone called the black haired girl and made her stop and turn to him. The one she saw was one of her club members, Mishima, he looked a little worried that he saw her.

"Mishima-san, what happened?" She asked.

"Ah ... K-Kamoshida... the coach wanted to see you in his office" was the only thing he said, looking at the floor.

'What does he wants? did I do something wrong? ' She began to think what would be the reason he wanted to see her in his office. She could not think of a reason and just decided to go and be done with this.

She began to walk toward the office of Kamoshida, She had a bad feeling about it, but not too much of a choice.

...

The next day ...

All the students were in their classrooms just like every day, no one thought it was going to be a special day and just wanted the day to end and go home.

Akira was one of those students, he was still thinking about the strange castle he and Ryuji had arrived to. While he tried to concentrate on his studies and to listen to what the teacher said and write simultaneously.

"What is that?" One of the students in the classroom said aloud, causing all the students and teacher to look out the window to the where he pointed.

Shiho was on the edge of the roof, she did not feel anything. Not the cold wind or any fear. She felt dead and lack every bit of power. Her body was moving on its own, she felt like someone was driving her body as she was only a passenger. She took a step forward and felt herself falling from the roof.

Only one thought went through her mind before she hit the floor and her world went black.

...

Her eyes opened slowly as she began to hear talking around her, she tried to understand what they said but felt weaker with every passing moment. Shiho tried to focus on someone who was in front of her, she was able to identify her blonde friend Ann who looked at her with a worried look and tears in her eyes.

"Ann..." she tried to say, but just a little whisper came from her as she spoke. She managed to whisper something to her friend before her world once again became black as she lost consciousness.

...

"I... don't... give up... you..." Someone said to her, 'Who is this?' She could not understand why anyone would say such a thing to her. 'Why should anyone care about someone like her?' it was weird to her.

"Who are you?" She wanted to ask but no voice came out, her mouth did not open and her eyes were still shut. The voice became quieter and quieter until it had completely disappeared. The only thing she could hear was the echo of the gentle voice that sounded so soothing. And so familiar for some reason.

...

Shiho's eyes opened again, she felt a little better and was able to identify the place she was in as her vision cleared. The room was unfamiliar to the dark-haired girl as tried to figure out where she was. Her memory came back to her and made her tremble with fear, why she was still here? or even alive?. She did not understand it, she wanted to finish and be done with everything. Just to disappears entirely but she guessed that even what to do with her own life was not her choice.

She realized from the machines around her and the white walls that she was in a hospital room or something like that. Before she tried to move the door opened and a nurse came into the room.

"Ah, I see you're awake, how are you feeling?" The woman asked with a calm voice and moved closer to Shiho's bed.

"I'm... what happened to me?" She asked, trying to show that she lost the memory of what happened. She was not sure it would work, but she just wanted to avoid hearing someone else tell her how wrong or useless she was... again.

"Well, you had an accident..." was all the nurse said before she tried to change the subject. "Your friends were very worried about you, they visited you every day just to see you" the nurse gave Shiho a kindly smile, "I'm sure they will be happy to hear you're awake," she finished checking some things and went out of the room after she told the black haired she will be back soon.

"My friends?..." she thought to herself if the nurse actually meant it or simply said it to make her feel better. 'It won't change anything' she thought before she remembered the voice she heard in her dream.

'I will not give up on you...' was what the voice told her, but who was it she could not understand.

The voice was familiar to her as she felt that the answer was on the tip of her tongue, she could not continue to reflect on it when the door to the room opened at that moment and interrupted her thought.

"Shiho! Are you okay?" Said the blonde girl who entered the room and raced straight to Shiho.

"A-Ann" the dark-haired girl began to say before she felt the hands of her friend who hugged her strongly.

"I'm so glad you're okay! I was so worried about you!" The blond freed her friend from her embrace and looked at her. "You didn't wake up for over a week! I didn't know what to think..." said Ann while shaking slightly.

'Over a week? so much time has passed since then?...' thought the dark-haired who managed to calm her friend and show her that she is fine. "You came to visit me while I was asleep?" Shiho finally asked hopefully try to understand what happened while she was unconscious for all the time.

"Of course I did! Even some of my friends came just to see how you are!" Answered in retune the blond girl.

'Your friends?' The black-haired girl thought of some of Ann's class mates and the blond Ryuji. These were the only people she could think who could come with Ann to see her. Just thinking about other students led her to think about the school and it made her remember that person who scared her to death. She shivered and hugged herself for a few seconds before she again felt the heat from her friend.

"Everything is fine Shiho, you don't need to be afraid any longer, I promise," whispered Ann to her.

'T-There is nothing to be afraid? what she's talking about?' Shiho thought in fear as she remembered the face of Kamoshida as he approached her more and more. Her fear grew when she thought of what the teacher made Ann do so he would leave her alone.

"A-Ann it doesn't matter what he wants from you! You can't-" she said before the friend began to smile to her.

"He will not bother anybody any more Shiho..." was all she said before the black haired could feel the fear vanish and made her head go dark again.

"Ah? Shiho?..." Ann called her friend but got no respond.

...

For Shiho it was quiet and dark again, she could not see anything or hear anything. She could not feel where she was, but she felt she wanted to get moving and get away from the place. She did not like or wanted to be alone, When she was alone she thought again about what had happened to her that made her want to die and bury herself.

"I don't want this... to be alone..." she tried to say, but no sound came out. "Please... someone...".

'It's okay...'.

"Eh?" She said when she heard a quiet and calm voice.

'You don't have to be afraid anymore... I will not let anybody hurt you again' the mysterious voice said.

She did not know who the voice was, but the tension and bad feeling just disappeared from her as soon as she heard him he was familiar to her, very much. But from where She did not know.


	2. Chapter 2

WOW Chapter One And Already 19 Favorites and 28 Followers Honestly I did not expect so much love for Shiho.

I'm very happy that other people like the character like me and hope you stay with me!

And I did try to make a connection about adding Akira and Shiho to the list of characters.

But there is still no success ...

Hopefully in the future.

Don't forget to comment and enjoy!

X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X

A few days have passed since the last time Shiho woke up, she had to go through a lot of testing and a lot of criticism from her parents who were angry that she hid her stress and problems she felt but in the end were glad she was fine.

In addition, the people who visited her were some girls from her club, Mishima and of course her friend Ann. She received many apologies from the girls that they did not know or see what had happened to her. And from Mishima, she received apologies and a promise he gave her that he won't let it happen and would have stopped Kamoshida if he knew what happened to her. The things her club member said upset her, it was easy to say he would have stopped it if you would know, you're afraid of him even more than I am...' She thought but thanked him just for getting him to stop and leave her alone.

Shiho heard about what happened from her team members and Ann, it was hard to believe that Kamoshida just decided to change himself. No, he didn't change himself, it was as if it was a completely different person wearing the face of their teacher. He decided to turn himself in and confessed to all the things that he did for everyone including her.

She at least could take comfort in the fact that nobody will blame her for what happened or what she tried to do. Or at least she hoped.

Her body has been almost completely healed and helped her understand that very soon she will be able to leave the hospital and go back to her life. 'Is there even a point or something to go back to?' This was not the first time she thought about the subject while she was alone in the room. Her only thought was her club, and although she could always go back there she did not want to for obvious reasons.

"What am I supposed to do-" she began to ask herself before knocking on the door stopped her from continuing to think about the unpleasant subject.

"Shiho How do you feel?" Said Ann who entered just like every day for the past week to visit her friend.

"Hey, Shiho-san we came to visit!" Said Ryuji as he entered the room after Ann.

Shiho was surprised to see the boy and even more when she saw someone coming after him. "Akira-kun..." It was not like she didn't meet Ryuji from Ann, they always got along and even walked together from time to time. But the fact that the new black haired student came was a surprise for Shiho.

"Both of these guys decided to join me and come visit you! They really insist let me tell you!" Ann stood on the other side of Akira and said with a mischievous grin.

"Hey! Don't make us look like those kinds of guys!" Ryuji defended himself and Akira.

"Really? I'm not so sure about you Ryuji ..." Ann's big smile just annoyed the blond boy even more.

While the two continued to argue Akira approached her bed "Are feeling better Shiho-san?" Akira asked.

"Yeah... considering..." She lied, she did not know why but she began to feel shame when Akira saw her as she was.

"It's really lucky the Phantom Thieves took care of kamoshida!" Ryuji entered the conversation of the two.

"Ryuji!" Ann struck his arm to silence him.

"Phantom Thieves?" Shiho asked in confusion when she heard the name for the first time. "What's that?" She glanced at Ann where she was hoping for an answer.

Ann tried to start talking but Ryuji interrupted and started before she could. "Well, they are a group of thieves who sent a message to Kamoshida that they will steal his heart GAA!" He stopped when he felt a sharp pain in his head and made him shot in pain. "What was that for you violent women!?".

"Akira would you mind telling Shiho what happened? I need to talk to Ryuji for a moment," the blond girl began to pull the boy out of the room as the black haired Akira could answer.

There was silence in the room for a few seconds before Akira decided to break it "Well to continue what Ryuji started, a few days ago someone posted around the school tickets said they would steal Kamoshida's heart and make him confess all the things he did..." Akira gave a couple of seconds for the information to sink in before continuing. "Kamoshida disappears after a few days, and then he just showed up and confess to what he did in front of everyone."

...

Shiho was silent for a few seconds while the information dropped on her like a bomb, and she understood the meaning of what he said. 'They are... he is only here out of pity because of what happened to me...' Shiho was surprised how much her hatred for Kamoshida grew even more than before he became aware of what he had done. 'Why do I have to suffer like this?' she cursed her luck.

"Shiho-san?" The new student asked the girl.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was just a little surprised that you're visiting me Akira-san. We only talked once until now" she said in reply, she realized it was just that the boy only took pity on her situation and nothing more.

"Well, we did meet more than once until now," said the black haired and made her look at him quizzically. "To tell you the truth, I came to see you before you woke up".

"You mean you came to visit me together with Ann?" She asked to try to understand better.

"No, I came alone," The black haired Akira simply responded to a question without hesitation, while Shiho moved her head to the side. "I didn't mean to be too friendly, but I just wanted to see you're okay...".

Shiho felt strange, although the girl was not beautiful or unique next to Ann or some of the other girls in school and the bruises she had always got did not help. She has never been popular with the boys and naturally stopped looking for a romantic relationship because of her club and because she never had time for such things. But to hear Akira says he came on his own had mixed feelings made her head spin.

"So you came to see me ah?" She asked without looking at him, every word that came made her feel as her voice would betray her and expose her thoughts to him.

"Yes, it was the second day you were here..." He took a moment before he continued. "I had to ask Ann about the hospital and your room number, sorry again if it sounds too familiar for someone who you just met."

'He was here before he heard what happened from Kamoshida! He really cares about me!' Her heart began to beat rapidly and she was afraid that the boy would hear the beats escaping from her "No, it's fine... I'm glad you did Akira-kun" She was able to respond, hoping that her voice did not betray the tension she felt especially after the radiant smile the black hair gave her back as he heard her answer.

"Sorry Shiho, my talk was longer than I thought with this idiot," said Ann just entered back to the room with Ryuji and pointed to the blond boy who was quieter this time and came in behind her.

Shiho was happy for the return of her best friend, she honestly did not know how to react to black haired without appearing strange and destroying the good impression he must have had.

At that moment that they came back inside the bag Akira was carrying moved a little and she could have sworn she heard a low cry.

"Hey dude, we gotta go do that thing we said" Ryuji turned to Akira causing the black haired to look at him and nod his head.

"Right, okay Shiho-san Ryuji and I have to go then we'll see you again soon," Akira said, turning to walk together with Ryuji.

Shiho waved the two boys goodbye and smiled before they left the room, leaving the two girls alone, Ann remained with her friend until the visiting hours were over and the nurse had to drag the blond girl from the room, but not before she promised she would come back to visit every day until she would be released.

X - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - X

It's been several days since the visit of Akira, Ryuji, and Ann. The blond girl made sure to visit her friend in the hospital every day after school, just like she said. This fact alone helped the recovery, but what gave her more power was the fact that someone was waiting for her outside and wanted to see her again.

Her recovery was much faster than her doctors thought, 'Your body is very strong' was what they said, 'It is because of all the hard work and your training' she hated to know that the reason why she was still intact was the way she trained but simply took it as it is.

She managed to convince her parents to let her go back to her school, they thought she would want to go somewhere else and forget about life and where something happened that made her jump. But she was pleasantly surprised her parents agreed to give up their jobs for her to have the possibility of being in a new place where people did not recognize her.

The dark-haired decided to also check on the thieves Ryuji mention, she was curious and especially if these were the people that made Kamoshida change. She was greatly disappointed there was not much information about the group. The only things which she found were a site and a lot of comments about what happened. It seemed to her that most people thought of it as a joke, she could not blame them. It sounded ridiculous to steal someone's heart and make him confess his sins. But she had no other way to see it but the truth. There was no other way to explain the transformation of the former teacher.

She decided to leave the information about the thieves to another time, maybe someday there will be more information on them.

The day came when Shiho came back to school, she went alone and took her train until it reaches the building where she wanted to run away from all the time. Students came and talked to one other just like every day, she decided to just go in and avoid the stares and whispering before she could enter the building.

She could hear whispers of students who recognized her but decided to just ignore them until she would get to her class.

...

Several hours of the morning had passed and it was lunchtime, the black-haired was able to find Ann while the two girls managed to find a quiet place to sit.

"So ... how did it go?" Ann asked her dark-haired friend.

"Just like you think," replied Shiho.

"That bad?".

"Well, considering what happened I can't really blame them".

...

"Well, I just hope it will go away quickly, so anyway what are you going to do now?" Asked Ann trying to change the subject.

"I'm not really sure," said the dark-haired and raised her head to the sky. "All my time was spent at the club, and as much as I hated this place it was to keep my mind from ... You know, everything in the house" her friend gave her a positive nod and continued. "Maybe I'll find something else to do...".

The two girls continued to talk about other issues until the bell rang at the end of the break. It honestly was glad to get out of the routine that reminded her what happened, but as she said to her friend, she will have to change, especially for herself.

It was finally the end of the day after what seemed like an eternity for her, she found that she had missed a lot of the material and was quite behind compared to the other students. She was happy to ask Ann for help with the staff she had difficulty but for her misfortune, the blonde was a photo shoot in the afternoon not to mention another class.

Without too much choice she left the classroom and decided to go the library, hoping to find something that would help her on the subject. She wasn't there many times except when she first came to school. The place was full of students like always but wasn't too crowded.

She went to the librarian who looked at her, "You need help?".

The dark-haired girl asked about the books she needed while the librarian checked her computer and then turned Shiho to the place where the books she needed.

She went to one of the shelves where the books were and began to look for them.

"Is that him?".

"I thowt he would look more sinister, probably because he's so dangerous"

"Shh, he will hear you idiot"

"What is he even doing here?"

The dark-haired could hear some of the students who whispered next to her and noticed who they talked about, She peeked behind the shelf where she was and saw him.

She could see a student with black hair and a bag on his shoulder, 'Akira-kun?'.

X - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - X

Akira just finished taking the book he was looking for, it wasn't what he was expecting, but with the reputation, he got from the first day it was quite expected. Morgana like each day was in his bag and whispered comments and suggestions that were occasionally helpful but mostly obvious. He would not answer in his voice but only nodded because after all, it would not be wise if it would seem if he was speaking to himself or cat.

He got out of the library and could hear the students like every time he went through the corridors, he was already used to it no matter how unpleasant it was.

"Joker someone is following us..." Morgana whispered to the leader of phantom thieves, the black-haired boy continued walking without any change and could tell someone was at the end of the corridor and walked awkwardly and suspicious after him.

"Makoto again..." whispered Akira as he saw the brunette that again tried to follow him, she held a manga book and used it to hide her face but once every few seconds looked to see what he was doing.

He honestly thought it was very stupid on her part, it was clear she was fooling him. Even when she was watching him outside of school she was always wearing her usual uniform and always uses the same book. Not to mention the fact that she was approaching him too close.

On the few times he decided to go and confront her, she chose to change the subject or say she was busy, he had to admit that at first, he was worried, but since he thought it was cute. Even if only a little.

Akira just decided to ignore her today and continue on his way, he needed to visit some places like the model gun shop and the Velvet room.

He went to the train station while he continued into town, as always the train was full of passengers, and he had to stand like on most days.

"She's still watching us..." Morgana whispered and made Akira try and look around.

"She is really stubborn today", the dark-haired boy thought but could not see her among all the people.

'what am I doing here?' Shiho thought as she stood on the train. The dark-haired girl she did not know what happened to her, but after she saw Akira again she wanted to talk to him, but before she realized she began to follow him until he boarded the train. 'It really does not suit me...' She thought but continued to look at him from where she was.

The train finally arrived at the station while Shiho saw Akira goes down and fell behind him, she began to follow him but kept a greater distance away from fear and shame of what would happen if he finds her.

He turned around town and stopped in a bookstore, a toy guns shop and simply turned around after about two hours began to return to the station and from there directly to a small cafe named Leblanc.

It was a bit late as she decided she lost her chance to talk to him today and did not want to think how long it will take him to come out of the cafe, so without much choice she went back to the train station and from there to her home.

"I will be able to talk to him tomorrow!" She told herself.

X - = - = - = - = - = - X

'What is wrong with me! I just had to go and say hello!' Shiho thought as she again tried to approach Akira without success, and just looked at him from afar. 'He said he would see me again and he'll be expecting it so it wouldn't be strange that I go up to him'. Although her thoughts and reasoning, she found that her legs refused to move in and kept looking at him from afar.

It was already the end of the day, and she was still behind him, but this time he was not alone. He was accompanied by Ryuji and Ann who walked beside him, talking among themselves the three looked like old friends who were together for years. making her a little jealous.

'What are they doing?' She thought before she saw Ryuji and Akira go somewhere else, leaving Ann alone. "They're done for today? No... " Shiho saw the two boys kept eye contact with Ann and stood a few feet away from her.

The dark-haired girl began to get nervous for her friend, but she continued to watch as a tall boy with purple hair came from nowhere and moved to Ann but stopped as the two boys came back and stood between her blonde friend to a boy she did not know.

...

After the purple haired boy entered a car the trio moved on to the station from which they came. Akira and the two blonds came to a part of the station that was relatively empty and just stayed there for a moment. The dark-haired Shiho could see something moving inside Akira's bag just like the day he visited her in the hospital. The bag's zipper suddenly opened while a black cat came out and put his head out of the bag.

"Akira-kun has a cat?" Shiho could take comfort in the fact that she had no problem with cats as she thought they were cute like most people. 'Wait what am I worried about? I didn't even speak to him at all and I'm worried about his pet'.

Akira and the blondes walked toward the steps down to the bottom floor and disappear quickly.

The stairs were empty of people and sounds, the only thing she heard was a meowing cat before she felt her world was turned upside down and everything was red and black.

...

She opened her eyes after her last strange feeling, it was a place that looks like a dark, deserted and dirty train station.

"What is this place?" she said to no one "where am I".


	3. Chapter 3

Wow that took a lot longer than I thought!.

I know I have not posted any new chapters in any of my stories but I will try to spend more time and update more!

I will not bore you if the reasons why so just enjoy the chapter and do not forget to tell me what you think!.

X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X

"Where am I? ..." the dark-haired girl tried to focus on the strange and alien place where she was, the surrounding area was deserted and dark. She took a few seconds until her eyes adjusted and she saw it better, at last, the surrounding area, the place was filthy and showed it was not used for a very long time. No... it would be more accurate to say it had never been used. But she could hear and even feel some noises and sounds that the place was not deserted as it seems to be.

The first thing she did was take out her cell phone and try to call someone, 'What is this?' She thought when the only thing that was working was a strange application of red eye that blocked the entire screen. She tried to delete it but without any success. The only thing she saw was a word.

"Momentos?" She was able to read, her first reflex was to go back to where she came from but completely stopped as she remembered her friends went ahead and disappeared in this strange place, 'why did they come here? Were they lost?' She thought anxiously.

Slowly and with trembling hands, Shiho began to move forward more and more inside, with every step her concern and fear have grown even more. If it was because of her friends or herself she was not sure, but clearly, the place felt unnatural and dangerous to her.

After she tried to find her friends unsuccessfully, the dark-haired noticed there were an empty train platform and the railway that continued on into the dark tunnel. Without too many choices and against all logic that she had, Shiho decided to go down to the track and try to look deeper.

As soon as she landed she looked around hopefully, 'No one... I will have to look... deeper', the dark-haired Shiho began to advance more and more into the tunnel, she followed the rails but still no sign of her friends anywhere despite she moved away from where she came.

...

...

She went the same route for about fifteen minutes and still did not see any sign of her friends or anyone else for that matter.

'Where did they go? Maybe I came to a different place?' Shiho thought, she did not see any sign of anyone or hear anything as she finally came to an intersection where there were three different ways to continue.

The black haired looked at the tracks she came from at it continued in the middle as the other two tunnels were without rails.

"what do I do now?" She asked no one and began to seriously consider if it's smarter to turn around and return back. 'Still nothing...' She thought as she was looking at her phone again and still could not call or see anything other than the odd app that lit up the tunnel with a red-light.

"Oh? What's... a map?" When she looked back on her phone, she could see additional words that appeared on the screen. 'Momentos 1st Floor', she said while she was able to see a map that appeared on her screen and showed the place from which she came from.

'Shhh...'.

"What was that?" Shiho wondered when she heard a strange sound that came from one of the tunnels, a deep and inhuman sound, not something that she or any normal person would want to hear ever. Against her good judgment, her legs began to move forward into the tunnel from which she could hear the sound. On the optimistic side of hoping they were her friends, but the other side of her told her to flee far away and abandon her friends.

"What is this place? ' Shiho began to hear a voice that sounded as if it came from anywhere and nowhere at the same time.

She did not know why but the voice was a familiar and completely new to her, she felt that the sound was something she heard every day and never 'I'm looking for my friends, they came here for-'.

'If your friends were here, you would've found them by now... '.

With every step, she was inching closer to the source.

'It doesn't matter! As long as there is a chance to find them'.

'Are you ready to take a chance with this? Do you really want to get hurt again?'.

The voice was completely silent now as she heard something coming. The noise sounded like something like a car engine or another vehicle of the same type. She finally managed to get into the tunnel and peered inside, what she saw did not seem to make sense.

What she saw a strange car that was fleeing from something she could not identify, the vehicle was completely black and blue eyes as lamps and even a small tail sticking out behind it.

Behind it was a huge creature hovering in the air and holding two large guns in his hands, it looked like a monster ... No, it really was a monster. His only appearance was something out of a nightmare... the rustling sound of his body made her shudder like she never felt before and never again if she could help it.

It lifted one of his guns and pointed to the car and in a moment as it shot off one of the wheels, the car lost a wheel and crashed into a completely different wall of the tunnel.

What happened seemed so odd she found it difficult to believe, it reminded her more of a movie or a tv series than anything real. The car disappeared with white smoke while there were four people were the car was.

The first one Shiho saw was a boy her age, he had messy black hair and a long coat that almost reached the ground, Shiho was able to see a dagger in his hand and clearly also a white mask that hid his face partially.

The second one was a blonde haired boy that held a bat in his hand and stood beside the black haired boy.

The third one looked like a girl who was wearing a red cat-like leotard, she was blonde and held in her hand a whip. She looked more tired than the others, she held her side in pain and sat on the floor behind two boys.

The last one didn't even look like a human being, it was a small creature. Black and furry like a cat... thing.

No matter which way, shape or form you would look at it, these people that were dressed in strange masks were her friends, Ann. Ryuji and Akira. Why are they dressed like this or what they did here had to wait until everything is over and she hoped not for them.

All four faced the creature that looks ready to fight and moved to them menacingly. He pointed to one of his guns to the blond standing next to Akira.

"Oh! I'm first?!" The blond boy said shocked and started running away from two other friends. "I will keep him busy! Worry about Panther!" The blond boy shouted between breaths as he ran around the big monster, trying to stay close enough and far away to keep his attention on him unless he decides to attack his friends.

The dark-haired boy pulled a gun from behind his robe and looked at the cat thing next to him, "Mona protect Panther, I'll help skull," said the dark-haired leader and began to run to the huge creature and help his blond friend.

The furry little creature jumped into the air for a moment, "No problem! I will protect Panther with my life!" He said as their leader was already in the midst of the battle with the creature.

Shiho looked with her eyes open, she refused to blink and miss a moment of what happened. It was just unbelievable, the two boys she met and knew looked completely different. They jumped and moved in an almost inhuman way, the boys attacked and even shot the creature mercilessly even though it didn't seem to affect him at all.

The dark-haired woman kept looking at her friends, unable to detect her surrounding, she could finally hear something behind her and turned around immediately.

She saw three creatures that looked the same and were larger than her but not by much, they were all red with wings and tails, not to mention the sharp object between their legs. She honestly thought she was looking at demons from hell. They were not threatening like the creature that attacked her friends but she could still feel their evil intent. Their black eyes focused on the small and timid Shiho and one of them began to approach her.

"What do we have here?".

"You look delicious enough to eat ..."

"Why don't you join us? Well behave"

She felt a familiar fear she felt in the past, 'what are they..' She thought with fear as the three began to approach her with smiles she didn't like.

The dark-haired girl recognized their expressions, it was just like the way Kamoshida looked at her before he attacked her and her world went dark.

Her head began to spin like that time and she felt weak that even the weakest wind could drop her to the ground.

'No... Why... Why me again? Is it my punishment?' Shiho thought with tears in her eyes as she didn't understand why fate was so cruel and unforgiving to her. Why did she have to endure it? 'And just when I... Akira...' the face of black haired appeared in her head.

"You want to give up?" Shiho heard again the voice she had heard before.

"Are you going to let them beat you, hurt you, control you?" The strange voice repeated.

"Maybe you better just run away... It's easier," The voice taunted and laughed at black haired.

Akira's face rose again in her head "No! I'm not going to run away or get hurt! I will not let any of my friends get hurt more!".

At that moment a strong wind came out of her body and blown the three demons from her, she felt powerful beats in her head. It started to hurt to the point that she thought it was going to split.

She could feel that something was on her face, it was a completely white mask that covered her entire face. She had square holes for the eyes and a kind of filter for the nose and mouth. She had the uncontrollable urge to tear her mask off her face.

"So you finally ready to fight for yourself!"

"Show everyone who counted you weak and helpless what you can really do!"

"You're a part of me! You already should know that!" Shiho called out while she grabbed the mask from the holes of the eyes and pulled her from her all the strength she had.

"AHHH!" She tore the mask from her face as a large figure appeared behind her. The figure looked like a woman with black hair and wore long mix between a dress and armor in purple and black colors. She was carrying a large black halberd with two curved silver blades. A black aura surrounded the female figure and something that looked like four black silhouettes of hands hovered behind her.

"We shell celebrate the birth of the real you with a festival of blood!" Called the female figure and swung her arms in the air.

Shiho nodded positively and prepared herself for battle. "let's go Oichi!".

The figure named Oichi raced forward with her blade and cut two of the three demons standing in front of her to pieces causing them to disappear in black smoke in a second.

The last remaining beast looked fearfully at Shiho who approached him with a menacing look.

"Now it's your turn..." the dark-haired snapped her head at the thing that looked as threatening as an ant to her now.

The last Demon raised his hands in fear "W-wait a m-minute, I-I didn't mean to do anything! I j-just wanted to talk to you!" He started to stammer fear.

The dark-haired girl just looked at him with yellow eyes that glowed ominously.

"I-I could give you something ... J-Just to show you I mean it? Maybe money or something?" He looked at her, hoping she would let him go.

"Give me something?" Shiho was silent for a few seconds before she smiled at the creature.

"T-then you decided what you want?" The breast looked happy and relived before he looked at her.

"My payment... will be your blood ...".

"Eh?" the demon tried to say before his head was severed from his neck and flew through the air while the body fell backward and then disappeared in black smoke after Oichi cut his head off.

The dark-haired girl was surprised at how calm she felt, a few seconds ago she was afraid of what might have happened to her. And now she felt invincible and freer than ever before. And even what she did to the demons did not seem strange or different, as if it were a part of her. Who she was and what she needed to do.

"Wait! What about-" she remembered her friends were still against the giant creature. From her place, she could see all four of them were still intact but a little dirty and very tired after quite a battle everyone worked together, but without any success.

The creature looked like she saw it for the first time, he hardly looked like they were able to scratch him or cause him any serious injury.

'I need to do something!' The dark-haired thought in panic. "Oichi!" She called her strength.

Oichi nodded as the hands made of shadows behind her disappeared into the floor. Shiho could feel them pass through the earth and come undernet the place where the creature had attacked her friends was.

The four black hands moved out from the ground behind the big monster, they seized it from his hands and it's body and stooped it from moving.

The appearance of dark hands scared the four. "W-What the hell?!" Asked the blond boy with fear when he saw the black hands appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the Ripper stopping him from finishing them.

"I don't know what are these things, but we need to use this chance and get away," Morgana said and began to help Ryuji get up on his feet.

The black-haired boy nodded and helped Ann to get up before the cat became a car in a puff of smock and started to drive away quickly leaving behind dust and the Ripper still in place.

The Ripper tried to break free but without any success, he struggled but could not get them to budge even a centimeter.

"You tried to hurt my friends ... That was your mistake..." she whispered as she felt the control of the shadow hands. "Now... die..." She could feel the monster that has become smaller and smaller in her hands with sounds of something crushed until it became smoke and finally disappeared completely.

She could feel that the invincible power inside of her begun to weaken, 'no, not... yet' She began to weaken, as her head began to throb. She held her head and tried to stop herself from falling to the floor.

"You are too weak to withstand your power for so long for the first time..." Oichi said as the four dark hands completely covered Shiho until everything went black for the girl.

...

When the hands left her Shiho could see she was in what looked like the entrance to where she came from. 'I-I came back here?' Shiho could see the platform from which she fell. She climbed back to the platform and looked around. She had not seen her friends and figured they made it out before she got there.

'I hope they're all right...' the dark-haired girl thought as she proceeded to where she entered from. As she approached the entrance a bright light blinded her for a few seconds and finally, she could see that she was again in a station full of people.

"I'm back?" Shiho looked around in confusion and then took her cell phone out. She could see the device returned to work as usual and seemed that the strange red eye app was still there. She wondered whether it is better to delete it but she finally decided to leave it in case she gets back to the same place named Momentos.

Shiho tried to call her blonde friend 'I just have to check...' She dialed and waited while the phone rang.

"Hello?" Ann's familiar voice answered.

"Ann, Hey what's up?" Shiho asked she could hear the weariness of her friend's voice.

"Hi Shiho, sorry I didn't speak to you today... I was a little busy..." the blonde replied.

"It's okay, I just wanted to ask you something," Shiho began to speak before Ann interrupted her.

"I'm sorry Shiho, I'm not really focused right now. I can barely understand you... can I call you later? Or even tomorrow?" The dark-haired girl heard her friend.

"Yeah, no problem," Shiho said as Ann hung up after she heard her friend's answer. 'She sounded really tired...' she recalled that Ann also looked very tired after the monster attacked her and the two boys.

Just the thought of that place caused her headache, without too much choice she moved to her normal train and went on to her house. She noticed that although she was in that place that looked like a different world. Time itself was still moving normally.

Shiho finally came home and fell into her bed as soon as she entered her room. Her exhaustion finally caught up with her and made her sleep like she's never done before.

X - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - X

A few days have passed since the first time Shiho followed her friends and came to the place called Momentos, she thought to confront the three members but decided to go and see what their goal was first. And because she still did not know what to say to Akira when she'll see him again.

Shiho followed him again at the end of the day, she made sure that he or anyone else had noticed her behavior. She wasn't like Makoto, following him in such an obvious way that it was embarrassing to watch.

At first, she thought that what happened that day she went after her friends was a dream, so she tried to do the obvious thing and to retraces her steps. She made it to Momentos again and this time felt in complete control. Her power was completely under her control, she felt her body became faster and stronger. She tried it on a small green demon who tried to attack her and destroyed it without the help of Oichi.

The second time she went to Momentos she found she was dressed in something that just showed up on her body. It was an all-black body suit that covered her whole body to her neck, her legs were covered in purple leggings. And on her hands were dark purple gauntlets. And finally on her face was the same mask that appeared on her face for the first time she entered Momentos.

From what she saw she understood that every time she entered Momentos her power and suit just appeared, and she thought it probably holds true for the others as well.

The dark-haired girl could feel her growing fatigue whenever she called Oichi for help or deal with the demons or creatures that attacked her during the time she was investigating in Momentos.

After she made sure she was not crazy and everything really happened as she remembered, she started to follow after the dark-haired boy she was now interested in more than ever. She was not sure this was the same reason she had in the beginning or she was just interested because he has the same power as her. But no matter what the reason was, she wanted to get closer to the black-haired boy.

She also was angry at first about her friend Ann that hid the whole thing from her, but she realized that she must have had her reasons and Shiho probably would not believe such a story. who would believe?.

Some days have gone by and Shiho could see that a purple-haired boy she had seen in the past joined the other members and began to hang out with them more, they did not go to Momentos It was clear to her. They approach a house she did not recognize and simply disappeared into thin air.

She thought she might be seeing things again, but her experience helped her understand it was a similar a place to Momentos, or so she thought.

Shiho decided she would go after them on the next time they go to the same place they have gone to. And the time came sooner than she thought. A few minutes after school ended Akira and Ann found Ryuji in the hallway as the trio went on from there to Central Station where they met the tall purple haired boy.

Shiho readied herself as she prepared to go after them. 'This time I will help them!".


End file.
